Profitable Group bids againA lot of the papers picked up on The Profitable Group’s alleged increased bid for Newcastle United yesterday. Steve McMahon, Profitable Group director, told The Chronicle:
“Our people have been in London all week working with lawyers and attorneys.
“And we have made them a realistic offer.
“We have been pushing ahead and, make no doubt about it, the money is in place – we are for real.
“We initially made a tentative bid to begin with, and discussions then took place. We were told to come back, and that’s what we have done.
“There has been a formal offer and we want to get things done and dusted as quickly as possible.”
If you’re interested you can read about The Profitable Group’s history on their web site, although the only thing on their site relating to Newcastle United is from the 10th June where they confirm their initial interest in buying the club. (more…)
Embargo?According to The Journal an embargo has been placed on all transfers until the new owners are in place.
They quote a ‘senior United source’ who says:
“There will be no players coming or going until the takeover has been completed. There will not be a firesale and it is up to the new owners and manager to decide who comes and who goes.
“The transfer market does not really get going until August, and Newcastle will not be doing any business until a buyer has been found. It is all on hold.”
This position was backed up by Alex Black, Alan Smith’s agent, who said:
“Newcastle United have put a sort of embargo on any players moving in or out of the club until the situation is resolved in terms of ownership.” (more…)
Smith to Blackburn?The Chronicle reports that Big Sam might be taking Alan Smith off our hands. However, he may only take him on a season long loan at Blackburn because he’s nervous about Smith’s £60,000/week wages, which is annoying because it was Big Sam who signed him for us on that wage.
At the bottom of The Chronicle’s article there’s a quote from Jonathon Brill, Ashley’s PR man, about the sale of the club: “There are a number of interested parties and there are no deadlines imposed by anybody,” he said. If Ashley is hoping his PR man is enhancing his image with terse statements like that, he’s wrong.
A club spokesman apparently also added: “I’m afraid there is no further news regarding the sale of the club.”
Today’s player complaint is from Steve Harper who tells The Journal:
“The players are very disappointed with the situation. Obviously what happened at the back of last year, to fall a goal short was demoralising.
“Players like structure and discipline and at the minute the structure is up in the air. The players don’t know whether they’re going to be here or elsewhere come the start of the season – none of us know at the moment.(more…)
Shearer - in the dark?Good morning. A lot of the papers are simply following up on the club announcement that Joe Kinnear will definitely not be reinstated as manager, perishing the thought that anyone would suggest such a thing. That’s except for The Mail of course, which is where the rumour got its foothold in the national press – they have conveniently ignored the club announcement and decided to say nothing.
Louise Taylor can never seem to resist writing some gloom about Newcastle though and her article in The Guardian bleats on about stalled sales and the club’s lack of communication with Shearer about things. There’s nothing new in the article so she tries to spice it up with quotes from ‘a source close to Shearer’, who says:
“Alan is completely in the dark.
“Alan is in talks with the BBC at the moment. He currently has one year left on his contract with them and they want to keep him but they also know how much he loves Newcastle and are being extremely understanding.” (more…)
Is Joe to return?The Daily Mail is reporting that Joe Kinnear is to return as Newcastle manager and that a takeover is not imminent.
The Mail claims this ‘exclusive’ but doesn’t reveal any source of their information and has no direct quotes from anyone about this, so it’s probably worth treating this report extremely cautiously.
The Mail suggests that an announcement will be made today, so we should know soon enough if there’s any truth in this or if it’s the usual garbage from bored reporters.
There are many rumours circulating about potential announcements today and for all I know some of them may be true. But beware rumour-mongers. They are much more often wrong than right and bear in mind that Ashley’s abysmal communication skills probably means he’s good at keeping a secret and ‘leaks’ to junior members of the SJP hierarchy – which is often where the rumour is said to originate – are unlikely.
The Chronicle reports that another Newcastle player – Jose Enrique this time – has decided to vent his spleen at the current disharmony at the club. It’s the standard sort of stuff, so I’ll just pick one quote from Jose: (more…)
